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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ About 10,000 protesters waving peace sign flags rallied at the state Capitol on Monday ahead of an antiwar march to the site of the Republican National Convention. Hundreds of police wearing bulletproof vests and carrying billy clubs stood by.
Police were preparing for disruptions from a self-described anarchist group, with officers in riot gear along the route of the march.
The anarchist group, known as the RNC Welcoming Committee, was targeted in police searches over the weekend that resulted in six arrests. The group, which did not organize Monday's march, issued a statement saying it was "moving forward with a national call to crash the convention."
Police said they were prepared for anything during the march, which organizers hoped would attract as many as 50,000 people.
"We will not tolerate lawlessness in the city of St. Paul," St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said. "If you come here to throw rocks, if you come here to throw Molotov cocktails ... we will stop you."
Peace activist Steve Clemens, 47, from Minneapolis said he was disturbed by the number of police.
"But we can't control that," said Clemens, who had already been arrested once — for crossing into a restricted area during a march Sunday.
For Monday's rally, he was planning to be part of the Minnesota Peace Team, a group that hoped to prevent confrontations between police and protesters.
Cheri Honkala, a national organizer for the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, said she expected violent confrontations between anarchists and police.
"I just hope it doesn't get bloody," she said at a news conference shortly before the march was to begin. Her group was planning a nonviolent march on Tuesday with acts of civil disobedience.
Alan Rybak, a real estate agent from Lakeville, Minn., stood along the protest route carrying a sign that read "Support Our Troops." Rybak, a Republican Party activist, said he was there to provide a different view.
"I'm here to support our troops and to tell (protesters) to get a job and go home," Rybak said.
One of the six arrested over the weekend on probable cause of conspiracy to commit a riot was released Sunday, according to attorney Bruce Nestor. No charges were filed against the woman, 23-year-old Monica Bicking. The other five remained jailed, possibly until Wednesday, Nestor said.
In the raids, police seized materials including knives, axes, bomb-making materials, maps and anti-war literature. Six people were arrested, and were expected to be held as late as Wednesday.
"It's pretty clear that the point is to get organizers out of the picture," said Andy Fahlstrom, spokesman for the RNC Welcoming Committee. The arrests hurt the organization, he said. The people arrested were in charge of various tasks, including finding housing for protesters and arranging food.
About 250 people, many of them veterans, participated in an anti-war march on Sunday. Nine were arrested after crossing a fence into a restricted area near Xcel, but all were released after being held briefly.
One man was briefly detained by police Monday morning after a smaller march by about 100 veterans opposed to the Iraq war. Wes Davey, 59, a retired first sergeant from St. Paul, said he was willing to be arrested for his cause. Police first said Davey had been arrested, but spokesman Pete Crum later said he wasn't.
Monday's larger rally went ahead even as the GOP curtailed the day's official activities because of Hurricane Gustav.
Immigrants, labor groups, veterans, student groups and others gathered for the rally, which was to last a couple of hours before the march to the Xcel Energy Center, where the convention is being held, and back. The route is about a mile and a half. Police estimated the crowd at about 10,000.
At the rally, a 25-foot-long ice sculpture rose 3 feet in the air and spelled "Democracy." Some protesters flew kites, waved American and peace-sign flags and carried homemade anti-war signs.
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